Everyone deals with the generation gap at some point and very generation feels it’s getting the worst end of the deal.
Yatri’s Chinta Chhod Chintamani addresses this simple yet complex issue with a generous dose of humour. The production recently completed 200 shows and still has many shows lined up.
Transcending barriers
Originally a book in Marathi by Vasant Kanetkar, Chintamani was adapted into Hindi by Ashish Dikey. Om Katare, the director, who also plays the titular character of the play, then rewrote it and reduced it from three acts to two.
The play’s universal subject transcends language barriers.
Set in an urban Indian middle-class family, the play is about a father vexed that his children are leading lives of ruin.
The children, in turn, feel it is just a case of misunderstanding. The father’s chinta is compounded by the arrival of his parents.
Performed first in 2008 at Mumbai’s Prithvi Theatre, the play has travelled across the country, with perfromances in Kolkata, Delhi, Pune, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and Surat, among others. No matter where it’s performed, the humour always stays alive.
“People get submerged while watching the show as these are situations they themselves have dealt with,” says Katare. “There are 12 characters, a grandfather, grandmother, father, mother, and children. Everyone in the audience can relate to at least one of them, and they get sucked into the play.”
Family entertainer
What works for Chintamani is that it appeals to the entire family. “People always tell us how much they enjoyed watching the dynamics of a huge family,” says Katare. “They wish those days of joint families would come back.”
While performing in Jaipur a few years ago, the gates of the theatre had to be closed as people kept pouring in. A live screen then had to be put up outside. It’s an example of how much the play has resonated with the average Indian.
Katare says, “If we were to assemble all the actors who have been a part of the play then half of Prithvi Theatre will be full.”
A key to the play’s success has been the consistency in the performance of every cast member.
Priyanka Kaul, Mukesh Yadav and Ashok Sharma are the only actors associated with the play from the beginning. Katare says, “Each actor is given the same brief: the character has to come across as a part of the family. The audience should be able to feel that. It shouldn’t look like an act.”
But the play has also received its share of brickbats.
Critics have argued that solutions offered in the play are too reductive. Individual performances have also drawn flak. However, Katare remains unperturbed. He believes there is no script that can please all. “Since it is live and with such a huge cast, it is natural that some performance can be off once in a while. But that is a part of the game. People can point out flaws even in the biggest hits.”
Paromita Chatterjee, who plays Chintamani’s wife, believes it is Katare’s understanding of the average Indian’s mentality that’s sets him apart. “He knows the pulse of the audience very well. I have known him for many years and have seen the hard work he puts in. He has an incredible sense of humour and often improvises on stage. Even though we are unsure whether it’ll work, it always does.”
Bickering joint families will always remain a part of Indian society and so Chintamani’s story will always find its audience.
Katare says, “I believe as long as the actors keep performing with excitement, the audience will keep coming. If the actors get bored, then audience numbers will gradually fall.”
That’s the only chinta on the director’s mind. “If all goes well, we could even touch 1,000 shows,” says Katare, who founded the Yatri theatre group in 1979 went on to produce 65 full-length plays with more than 5,500 shows.
Chinta Chhod Chintamani,May 21, at 6.30 pm and 9.30 pm at Prithvi Theatre. Tickets: Rs. 400.
The writer is an intern at The Hindu.
The production recently completed 200 shows and
still has many shows lined up
